


nobody else but me

by lowkeysalty



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22256371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowkeysalty/pseuds/lowkeysalty
Summary: "Ohhhhh I see," Zane said. "Someone's mad that they're not someone else's favorite celebrity.""Please, Zane. This is not about Digby Vermouth."
Relationships: Amara/Moze (Borderlands)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 51





	nobody else but me

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the snapshot in the handsome jackpot dlc end credits where moze's gay ass is cheering ember on. and yes the title is from genghis khan by miike snow. what of it

_"Every face was smilin' except his. Music can't touch you if you don't have a soul."_

Digby Vermouth's words about Handsome Jack echoed in Amara's head louder than his live act and the obnoxious slot machines behind her. At the moment, it was she who seemingly lacked a soul. 

Moxxi invited the vault hunters to the grand reopening of the casino. Their drinks and hotel rooms were paid for, but any gambling or shopping or… Vice District indulgences would be on their own dime. Vice District indulgences happened to be the first thing on Zane's to-do list so the other three vault hunters begrudgingly followed him as soon as they got inside Moxxi's Big Score that night. Amara regretted the decision now as she and two of her comrades sat a table near the main stage of the cabaret while the other showered Ember and her semi-erotic fire dancing with tips. And it wasn't Zane she was upset with. 

She watched Moze with a scowl, her arms crossed and one boot hiked up on the table. She and Moze had agreed not to put labels on… whatever the hell they were. But everyone else knew that they were basically together. Unofficially official. As Amara understood it, they were exclusive. Maybe she was wrong. Either way, it hurt to watch Moze fawn over another girl. It happened when they first came to this casino and now it was happening again. 

Zane noticed Amara’s foul mood and decided he should attempt to cheer her up. Jokes weren't going to work, as she'd already heard all of his by now and she rarely laughed at them anyway so he decided booze was the best way to turn her frown upside down. Without a word, he got up, grabbed a couple of drinks from the bar, came back, and held one of them out to her. 

Amara's piercing gaze at her not-girlfriend slowly traveled up to meet Zane's good eye. "I don't want that."

"You look like you need it," he replied. He placed it on the table and pushed it toward her. 

"What about me? Where's my drink?" Fl4k complained from their seat on the other side of the siren. 

"Oh shut up you bucket o' bolts. Ye ain't even got a mouth."

"You could have at least asked." 

Zane waved Fl4k off. Fl4k didn't have a mouth but they did have a middle finger, which they casually raised at Zane before getting up and wandering off to see some other sight in the Vice District. 

Zane rolled his eyes and sat back down. "Dramatic, that one." 

Amara replied with no more than a grunt before diverting her attention back to Moze, still front and center in the crowd around the stage. 

"Ohhhhh I see," Zane said. "Someone's mad that they're not someone else's favorite celebrity."

"Please, Zane. This is not about Digby Vermouth," Amara snorted. 

"Why else would she--" Zane stopped mid-sentence when he saw Moze tip Ember again. "Oh, that'll be it." 

"See? That's the third time I've seen her do it."

"Maybe… I dunno. Drag her back here and talk to her. I doubt it's that deep."

"Wouldn't want to ruin her night," Amara said, a twinge of venom in her words. Zane felt it though her anger wasn't targeted at him. 

"It seems to me like she's already ruined yours. An eye for an eye as they say."

Amara turned to Zane again. "Do you ever mind your own damn business?" 

"Shite! I'm just tryin' to help." 

"Yeah well your 'help' isn't helping."

The pair continued to bicker after the end of the set. Digby and Ember had both left the stage and the speakers now pulsed with ear-splitting EDM instead of Digby's sexy sax. Moze fled the front of the stage before the crowd became a mosh pit and returned to the table where Amara and Zane's argument had escalated. They were standing up, all up in each other's faces arguing about things that happened months ago. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Break it up!" Moze shouted. 

“Nice of you to join us,” Amara quipped. 

Moze completely missed the sarcasm and said, “Sorry, had to get my Digby fix.”

Amara rolled her eyes. Wow. Terrible self-awareness. She huffed and sat back down, debating whether or not to accept that drink Zane brought. The drink that Moze then pointed to and asked, “You gonna finish that?” Amara shook her head, even more annoyed now. Moze picked up the glass and downed it as fast as humanly possible. She wiped her mouth with the back of a gloved hand, her brow furrowing in disgust. “God, why did I do that? I hate fruity shit.” 

“Well next time YOU can go get her a drink she doesn’t want,” Zane chimed in. 

“Maybe I will. Hey, where’s Fl4k?” 

“Ran off because I didn’t bring them a drink too.”

“They don’t even have a mouth though.”

“THAT’S WHAT I SAID!” Zane shouted, throwing his arms up in exasperation so hard he fell out of his seat. 

At that moment, Fl4k returned with a beer bottle in hand, “Hey guys.” 

“Oh GREAT. You’re gonna pour that on your face just to prove a point aren’t ye?” Zane called out from the floor. 

“No. I got it for Amara,” Fl4k replied, placing the bottle in front of the siren.

Amara didn’t know if Hell was real but she was pretty sure this is what it would be like. She took a deep breath and stood up as calmly as she could. Then she aggressively shouldered past Fl4k and stormed off to the nearest subway. She wanted to be in her hotel room, far away from these bumbling morons. 

“So you don’t want that one either?” Fl4k called after her.

Moze pursed her lips and pointed in the direction of Amara’s warpath. “I’m gonna go take care of that.” 

“You better,” Zane said, using the seat he fell out of to pull himself up. “I’m not puttin’ up with any more of… whatever the hell just happened.”

* * *

Up in the dark hotel suite, Amara lay face down on the king-size bed and screamed into a pillow. She knew this shouldn’t bother her so much. She was the one that insisted she and Moze didn’t define the relationship. Yet here she was, mad at her not-girlfriend for tipping a performer. She justified her anger with the flirty one-liners Moze had dropped on Ember weeks prior. There wasn’t really an excuse for that, was there? 

Amara was snapped out of her mental gymnastics by the sound of the door to the hotel suite clicking open and none other than her not-girlfriend walking inside. Shit. She forgot they were sharing a room. The lights flicked on and Amara turned to face the gunner.

“You okay?” Moze asked, locking the door’s deadbolt.

“Get out,” was all Amara could manage to say.

“Uhhhh. This is my room too. Where do you suggest I go?”

“I don’t care. Anywhere but here.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong.”

Amara said nothing. Moze walked over to the bed, kicking off her shoes and placing her helmet on the nightstand before sitting on the bed with her legs crossed. Amara scowled and rolled over to face the wall instead of Moze. A million thoughts clouded her head. She knew it was irrational but she did NOT want to be in the same room as this woman right now. 

“Amara,” Moze said sternly, gripping the siren’s shoulder. “Talk to me. What happened?” 

Amara turned her head just enough to make eye contact. She saw genuine distress in those hazel eyes. With a deep sigh, Amara sat up and leaned back against the headboard. She hugged her knees, not knowing what to say. When she tried to put it into words, she felt so… juvenile. Moze’s concerned gaze wasn’t letting up so she had to say _something._

“Look, I know we didn’t want to put labels on our relationship but it _really_ hurts for you to be way more invested in--” she was cut off by the sound of Moze laughing. “What’s funny? I'm not joking.” 

“You… You’re jealous?! Oh my god, I never thought I’d see the day,” Moze wheezed, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. 

“I am _not_ jealous!” Amara protested, blushing.

Moze giggled once more before taking a deep breath and composing herself. She shook her head. “You saw me tipping Ember. Look, I get how that looks bad and that won’t happen again if it makes you uncomfortable. But I’ve been to many a red light district and I know those girls typically work for tips and no straight man is gonna tip ‘em well. So I always make a point to.”

“But what about all the flirting you did with her weeks ago?”

“You thought I was _flirting_?” Moze started cackling again. “That’s rich. Do you even _know_ me? Do you not remember how hard it was for me to form an actual sentence when we first met?” 

“I do. But you’ve grown much more confident since then.” 

A more serious expression fell over the soldier's face. “Amara. Where am I right now?”

“Uhh. Moxxi’s casino?” Amara answered, confused as to what this had to do with anything.

“More specific.”

“Moxxi’s casino on the edge of the galaxy somehow not falling into a black hole.” 

Moze shook her head. “No. More specific than that,” she said, gesturing around the room.

“In this hotel room?” Amara asked with an exhausted sigh. She didn’t want to play this game.

“Yup,” Moze said, cracking a half-smile now. “And who am I with?”

“Me, I guess.”

“That’s right. I’m here with you. Not downstairs with Zane and Fl4k. Not with Ember. Or anyone else.” The gunner paused to scoot closer to the siren and draped an arm around her shoulders. “I chose to come up here with you and I’ll always choose you.” 

Amara smiled for the first time that night. Tears started to form as she profusely apologized for being so angry for essentially no reason. Moze gently shushed her, wiping the tears from Amara’s eyes with her own thumbs. Amara let out a tired laugh and said, "I never thought _I'd_ be the insecure one." 

Moze shrugged and said, "I mean. I get insecure about us all the time. Y'know since the Tiger has to wink at every girl she meets."

"Really?" Amara said softly. She had never considered how things like that would affect Moze. "I… That's just a persona. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't make it sting any less," Moze replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. 

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

" _Because_ it's a persona. That coupled with the whole no labels thing… I never wanted to bring it up 'cause I didn't wanna seem crazy. I just had to remind myself that _I_ get to fall asleep next to you every night. None of those fangirls. Nobody else but me." 

"God. Maybe we _should_ put a label on it. How do you feel about being my girlfriend?" Amara asked with a smile. 

"I thought you'd never ask. Partially because I thought I'd be the one to snap and ask to define the relationship," Moze said. 

"Oh whatever. You can propose when the time comes."

Moze raised an eyebrow. "So is that a preemptive yes?" 

"Maybe so," the siren said, pulling her girlfriend into a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter @streamdirtycar


End file.
